How does Ideator work?
Ideator is a technology platform designed to help you take your idea and turn it into a business. (See this infographic on how to use Ideator if you’re a visual learner.) Once you sign up, the power is in your hands to make it happen. You set the pace. You fill out your profile and start working on your idea immediately. Settings let you work in stealth mode for as long as you want. That means that no one can see your idea or any actions you’re taking inside the platform to develop it. When you’re finished defining your idea profile, you can use the search functionality to find team members, advisors, and investors. We can also suggest some for you. If you choose to invite any to your idea, you will send them a customized invite. At that point they will need to accept an automatically triggered NDA. Once they join your team, they can see the idea profile. If you then choose to make your idea public to the community, you can change this setting. Only then can other community members who are not a part of your team see your idea. Use our platform to define your goals, tasks, assign them to your team, and get the next steps done, in order to launch your business. Need help? Guidance? Loop in advisors, check out our Resources Portal, or the Discussions page to see what the community members are saying. Get empowered and, get to work launching your idea!

How can I submit to the December Challenge where you’re giving away $10,000?
The December Challenge is an idea competition we hosted on December 15th. The competition was both industry and geography agnostic. You can find all the details and results here, including a video of the virtual event. Missed the submission date? Don’t worry, we’ll hold more in 2016. Signup now and get your idea(s) ready!

How does the Ideator Fund work?
This is how the fund application works: ideators build out their idea on Ideator (with the elevator pitch, problem, solution, image) but also be sure to include supporting documents such as, but not limited to:
– Market research
– Product/service mockups
– Competitive analysis
– Interviews with potential customers
– Examples of traction
– Business plan
Once complete let us know and provide a reason why your idea should be funded by Ideator. We will review your idea profile in the application process. If you have any questions about these types of supporting documents (what they are, how to go about creating them, etc.) please let our Community Manager know! That’s what we’re here for!

Can Ideator work on my ideas?
Since Ideator is a startup helping startups, we cannot work on your idea(s), directly (i.e. become a co-founder, or teammate). We can, however, help you get started, offering insights/ feedback on your idea, and connect you to other potential teammates / co-founders / advisors and investors, when ready. If you’d like more hands-on expertise throughout the journey, you we can join your idea as part of the Ideator Advisory Board program (if accepted). The Ideator Advisory Board can supplement an existing Advisory Board or serve as your primary Advisory Board. All key subject matter expertise are provided so that you, the Ideator, can focus on building and growing your business. Learn more and apply through here.

Can Ideator employees work for me?
See above. Again, we wish we could be everywhere, but we are only human.

Can I work at Ideator? It seems like a pretty cool place to work.
Ideator is an awesome place to work! We are indeed growing and we’re looking for marketers, community managers and engineers. If you think you have what it takes, send us your cover letter and resume to info@ideator.com.

How do I make sure my idea won’t get stolen?
We completely understand your concern. To ease your worries, we give you the power to keep your idea “private facing” in Ideator as long as you’d like. In our experience pitching ideas in various forums, we tend to see that the pitch with insightful feedback. In other words, we gained value, and didn’t lose any IP. But still, we understand your apprehension. Some ideas stay in “stealth mode” while they build their product and use our platform as a way to build their team and as a project management tool, giving updates to potential investors. Remember that once you launch publicly in any arena, your idea can always be “built upon” by competitors. Ideator does our best to protect your ideas with 3 main aspects: 1) you can work on your idea in private until you 2) work with a patent/trademark attorney (we can connect you to one) 3) and we automatically send an NDA to anyone you invite to join your idea. You should also exercise common sense when you invite someone to your idea (obviously don’t invite someone you don’t trust).

Can I have someone write my business plan / pitch deck?
If you want to do it yourself we have templates in the Resources Portal. If you’d like to outsource it we do have resources that you can use to outsource this process.

Why do I need to login first?
We take privacy and security very seriously at Ideator. We require you to enter your email address and a password so that when you begin working on your idea, you create a profile that only you can access. And that way, you’re able to safeguard your idea.

I have a prototype, and I need business partners and investors. Have I come to the right place?
Absolutely. When new users join Ideator we ask them, “How can you help the community?” We’re all about giving back, and our community is founded upon that. We have professionals wanting to offer their services and be a part of something exciting and new. We also have ideators who are serial entrepreneurs at heart, and want to work on many ideas at once. And of course we have investors who have experience launching businesses, so you’ve most definitely come to the right place to grow your team and launch your idea.

How do I get my idea on the Ideator Blog?
Most of the ideas we’ve written about we ask the ideator because we are a part of many of the ideas in the community. If you haven’t already been messaged, and your idea is a good one, it might be because your idea is private and we haven’t seen how awesome it is. Once you have created your idea on Ideator, ping us in the chat box. Explain to us why your idea should be showcased, and we’ll take a look at your idea if we haven’t already done so.

What are Collections within my Dashboard?
You can think of Collections as folders. You can use them really for anything. Popular use cases include:
– Organizers collecting ideas for an idea competition
– Angel investors keeping track of promising ideas and teams for potential investment opportunities
– Bloggers watching ideas

I just want my advisors and investors to see my idea. Do I need to make it public for that to happen?
You can keep your idea private as long as you’d like, and send invites to individuals who you would like to see your idea. That way, you do not need to make your idea public for advisors and investors to see your idea.

Can we add resources or suggest resources to be added to your Resources Portal?
You can most definitely suggest resources to be added. We vet all resources thus we manage this portion. Please message us in the chat box.

Do you have a version that can be only available to our campus?
Ideator is at many top schools across the nation and internationally. As we are creating a platform that is democratizing the entrepreneurial process globally, we do not have a version that is campus-specific. We might change our mind in the future, however. If you want Ideator at your school, please do send us a note – info@ideator.com.

How many investors are on the platform?
We do not have a number to provide you with because Ideator does not track users’ information and users can remain private, which investors tend to do. We do, however, have thousands of users in our community from over 95 different countries. We have recruited some accredited investors onto our platform, and continue to do so in order to facilitate connections for them, and for you.

Does Ideator have a Google Apps integration?
Currently Ideator supports document upload in a multitude of mediums, and this is on our product roadmap, but we do not currently integrate with Google Apps. An obvious workaround is to provide your team with the links through your idea profile in the details section if you’re currently collaborating on those apps. Alternatively if you are ready to present the documents to advisors/ investors, you can go File > Download as > and then select another file extension and then attach to the documents section on Ideator.

I want to host an Idea Competition powered by Ideator. How do I do that?
Awesome! As you know, our platform is free to use, and we’re more than happy to help provide you with a manual on how to run your idea competition (we’ve hosted a few of our own, and are more than happy to provide you with our tips and tricks we’ve learned throughout our experiences). Message us at info@ideator.com and we’ll gladly walk you through the process.

Wouldn’t it be beneficial to have all the ideas public? Others may have tackled problems you are facing and have an easy way to solve them.
We see this platform becoming a great place to drive innovation. We would, but unfortunately, most people are really hesitant to share their ideas. It’s a big part of the reason they never start their business in the first place. It’s like a 2-step process. First we get them comfortable sharing their idea within a trusted circle. Eventually they may see the benefit of the broader community and open it up. It’s the choice they ultimately get to make. (We do offer the option to work in stealth mode – or private – indefinitely, of course).

I have another question that wasn’t answered here. Where can I get more info?
You can reach us directly by email, phone, or carrier pigeon. Scratch that, the pigeons are on holiday this week. Our contact information is here. We also invite you to signup for Ideator (did we mention it’s free?) and chat with us!